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Automobile maintenance garages require varieties of equipment for their smooth functioning. However, the purchase of the right equipment from alternatives is a tough task as it depends on several economic, technical, and environmental considerations, etc. Moreover, there are different sellers for such equipment, whose features would be satisfying the purchase criteria in varying levels or degrees. Hence, this purchase decision becomes a complex decision-making problem.

An integrated multi-criteria decision-making approach that includes the combination of fuzzy AHP (analytic hierarchy process) and GRA (grey relational analysis) is used for the purchase decision-making of garage equipment. Various purchase decision criteria regarding garage equipment are assimilated through literature and interaction with garage professionals. The weightage of each purchase criteria of garage equipment is derived using fuzzy AHP. After the establishment of weights, various equipment suppliers are evaluated according to their conformance to the criteria using the GRA method.

The methodology of FAHP helped in ranking the different purchasing criteria based on their importance. It follows the following sequence: cost of ownership, technical specifications, operational characteristics, reliability and maintenance, after-sales support, commercial features, environmental pollution, and end of life characteristics. GRA methodology has been applied for the purchase of the best common rail test bench among alternatives according to their fulfillment of the purchase criteria requirements that are evaluated by a team of experts.

The integrated approach developed in this work for garage equipment purchase will help garage management to prioritize each supplier of the equipment based on their level of conformance to the purchase criteria.

This study examines the selection criteria, country preference and people which influence Taiwanese male office workers' business apparel purchases in Taiwan. A partial model by Engel, Blackwell and Miniard (EBM) was used as the framework to indicate that the culture factor directly affects consumers' decision‐making process of purchase behaviour. A total of 232 questionnaires from male consumers in Taipei, Taiwan, were used for data analyses. Selection criteria, country preference and influential people were analysed by demographic variables including age, marital status, education, occupation, and yearly expenditure for business apparel purchase. Overall, the respondents ranked the selection criteria in order of descending importance as: fit, colour, price, style, quality, brand name, ease of care, fibre content and country. The order of country preference was rated first to last as: Taiwanese, Italian, US, French, British, Japanese, Hong Kong, German and Canadian. Individuals who influenced purchases were ranked as: my own opinion, wife or girlfriend, female friend, family member or other relative, male friend and salesperson. This research suggests that if foreign companies want to market to Taiwanese male consumers, they must develop appropriate strategies that help to change the domestic bias of the older males, or choose to appeal to younger males in hopes of developing long‐term brand loyalty. Additionally, the price strategies should be adjusted to be more competitive in Taiwan's marketplace. Meanwhile, fit and colour of apparel products may also need to be altered or modified in order to reach Taiwanese male consumers' demands.

The aim of this paper is to report the findings of a global survey on decision criteria used and the importance attached to these criteria when purchasing professional services for skills training in sales and negotiations.

The research is based on 24 face‐to‐face and telephone interviews with global learning and development managers plus 309 usable responses to an online survey. The respondents are asked to evaluate the importance of six “high level” criteria and 37 sub‐criteria (identified from the interviews and academic literature review) when purchasing professional services. Descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis are used to analyse the survey data.

Descriptive statistics reveal that the main criteria split into two distinct groups: pre‐qualifiers and final stage differentiators. Exploratory factor analysis results in a reduced set of 11 factors that explain the underlying structure of decision criteria used for the selection of professional service providers.

The findings of this research are especially suited for those managing the learning function or directing learning and development strategy at a corporate level, including human resources and executive management. They will also be of interest to professional service firms wanting to gain an insight into the selection process and academic researchers, as this paper helps address the paucity of empirical research into the purchasing criteria for professional services.

The supply chain literature heavily reports on decision criteria and decision making techniques used for supplier selection mainly in the manufacturing industry. This paper draws attention to the need for more research on the services sector.

The purpose of this study is to address supplier evaluation and selection in a constrained environment of advance purchasing. The study presents the potential solutions to supplier evaluation and selection issues in the Indian automobile sector where advance purchases are carried out to fulfill the supply chain demand.

Based on the literature review and expert elicitation, nine major factors which are responsible for the successful implementation of supplier selection in a constrained environment of advance purchasing are identified. This paper explores supplier selection in constrained environment issues based on an integrated method based on Shannon entropy, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) techniques and failure mode effects analysis (FMEA).

Analysis of the results of the study suggests that traditional suppliers are not suitable in advance purchasing scenarios; hence, criteria developed in this paper to accommodate the requirement of advance purchasing with possible risk considerations are of high importance. This research paper is an original attempt to develop supplier selection criteria for advance purchasing with special identification of deliverability, flexibility, innovation and productivity factors through a case demonstration.

This study uses data from secondary sources, literature reviews and expert opinions. It formalizes the important factors of successful supplier selection in the constrained environment of advance purchasing in the automotive industry context.

The paper shows how the engagement of suppliers through advance purchasing helps automotive companies in developing a competitive advantage. The integrated approach of Shannon entropy, AHP techniques and FMEA is an effective and useful method that can be applied to the supplier selection process.

The proposed FMEA-AHP method integrated with Shannon entropy used for evaluation represents a useful tool to embrace the suitable functioning tactics for efficient supplier selection. The study is unique as supplier evaluation and selection in a constrained environment of advance purchasing is not investigated much and has good industry applicability.

China′s foreign trade and investment policies have appeared more attractive to Western marketers in recent years. China presents an opportunity for huge market potential and rapid growth for American multinational firms. However, Western marketers have only limited knowledge about Chinese purchasing decision making, particularly the supplier selection and evaluation criteria of Chinese purchasing managers. Highlights six key criteria of supplier selection and describes the responses of a sample of Chinese purchasing managers. Segments the respondents into three clusters, based on similarities in their supplier evaluation processes and differentiates these clusters in terms of whether the managers emphasize reliable deliveries, price/cost considerations, or product quality. While these findings are of a preliminary nature, they reveal that service/responsiveness of a supplier is not a high priority as opposed to purchasing managers in Western industrialized countries. As China moves rapidly towards a market economy, many Chinese purchasing managers will require suppliers to improve their responsiveness, given comparable levels of price and quality. An understanding of this transition will help Western marketers to enhance their market positions in China.

The next generation of shoppers is hitting the stores, and forward‐thinking retailers are following their every move. For retailers who target the teen market, developing strategies aimed at reaching this market are complex. This study was conducted for a large south‐eastern US department store chain which was interested in learning more about the purchasing behaviours of teenagers. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between jean purchase criteria, the type of store selected when purchasing a pair of jeans and teenagers’ purchasing behaviours. The sample consisted of teenagers aged 14 to 18 years old who were enrolled in a required economics class in four representative high schools. Results indicated that jean purchase criteria and type of store impact on both information‐seeking behaviours and price‐conscious purchasing behaviours among teenagers. For the information seeker, price, wash and brand were statistically significant and influenced the degree of information‐seeking behaviour. The cost‐conscious teenager was influenced by price, brand and quality. In addition, males and African Americans placed a greater importance on the store where purchases were made than did females and whites, respectively. Opportunities exist for all types of stores which are interested in attracting the teen market. Retailers need to understand where teenagers shop and the criteria that they use for selecting a store. Additional research needs to be conducted to investigate the cross‐shopping behaviours of teenagers and the store selection criteria they use.

The impact of supply disruptions from unplanned events can cause goods shortage, limited responsiveness and high opportunity cost thus compromising development aid programmes' achievement targets. These situations force humanitarian aid agencies to develop new strategies for effectively managing their supplies. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the foundation of humanitarian supply chain resilience through the development of an adapted Kraljic portfolio model.

Action research was used to adapt and validate the Kraljic portfolio model to the development aid context. The research team worked with a humanitarian aid agency in developing criterions and used Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) in weighting those key criterions.

The adapted portfolio model was able to evaluate purchases done by the aid agency by incorporating different perspectives related to the strategic importance of purchase and supply vulnerability. In particular, development aid programmes require large supplies annually. Better classification offers improved visualisation of purchases, leading to a more precise adoption of mitigation strategies and policies to minimise supply disruption risks.

Adapting the Kraljic portfolio model is a stepping-stone to building humanitarian supply chain resilience. The proposed humanitarian supply chain resilience framework is based on the foundation that current humanitarian supply chain needs to be re-engineered. In order to re-engineer, the supply base strategy must first be revisited.

Many aid agencies do not have a holistic view on their purchases and commonly apply a transactional classification of purchases that only considers the consumption values. Purchasing strategies mostly focus on cost minimisation, whereas risk mitigations have been disregarded. The proposed portfolio model overcomes these drawbacks. Societal impact may be limited but development aid agencies will be able to offer more reliable aid delivery as part of their mandate.

The proposed portfolio model is among the first tool to guide humanitarian aid agencies to develop procurement strategies to alleviate supply disruptions and increase development aid programmes resilience.

To identify dimensions of evaluative criteria used when purchasing casual apparel and casual home furnishings and to determine which evaluative criteria served as predictors of brand extension purchase behavior of these products.

A mailed self‐administered survey sent to a randomized sample of 739 female consumers residing in three metropolitan areas in a southwest state in the USA resulted in a response rate of 32.7 percent. Purchase frequency of 15 brands that extended across apparel and home furnishings and the importance of 17 evaluative criteria were measured using 7‐point Likert‐type scales. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation and path analysis using LISREL 8 were performed.

Image, quality, color/style, and design/beauty of fashion products are important criteria when purchasing extended brands of casual apparel and home furnishings. Image of fashion products was the strongest predictor when brands were extended from apparel to home furnishings products.

This study was limited to female consumers living in urban areas in one state in the USA and to casual apparel and home furnishings fashion product categories.

Suggests retailers focus on brand or store image when extending brand from apparel to home furnishings and merchandise multiple product categories to increase sales across product categories.

Little research on brand extension of fashion products exists yet this is a growing strategic area of fashion product development and merchandising. This study addresses the need to examine consumer behavior associated with fashion brand extension.

The present study reports demographic differences with respect to Swedish consumers’ attitudes towards organic foods (milk, meat, potatoes, bread), purchase frequency, purchase criteria, perceived availability, and beliefs about organic foods. A random nation‐wide sample of 2,000 respondents, aged 18‐65 years, were mailed a questionnaire and 1,154 (58 per cent) responded. The majority of consumers, and particularly women and young respondents (18‐25 years) reported positive attitudes, but purchase frequency was low. A total of 13 per cent stated that they regularly bought organic milk. Corresponding figures for organic meat, potatoes, and bread were 13, 16, and 8 per cent respectively. The most important purchase criterion was good taste, and the least important was “organically produced”. Approximately half of the respondents were satisfied with the availability of the organic foods. The organic foods were perceived to be more expensive and healthier than conventionally produced alternatives. A major obstacle to the purchase of organic foods was reported to be premium prices. The results suggest that the consumption will not increase as long as important purchase criteria and perceived beliefs about organic foods do not match.

This article investigates social class, income and gender effects on the importance of utilitarian and subjective evaluative decision criteria over a variety of products considered more and less socially significant. Variations in attitude, motivation and value orientations associated with differences in occupational opportunities and demands, childhood socialization patterns and educational influences may lead consumers to vary in many of their purchase behaviors across social classes. It was found here that social class is a significant predictor of evaluative criterion importance for a number of products. The influence was moderated by the objectivity of the criterion and the social sensitivity of the product. Because of its link to choice limitation in decision making, income was expected to be an influence on evaluative criteria. A greater number of utilitarian criterion importance ratings for socially non‐significant products were related to income, and utilitarian criteria importance, in general, was negatively associated with income for low social value products. Application of relative class income levels led to a substantially greater number of significant relationships compared with income or social class alone. The gender of respondents was found to relate to the observed associations, with women generally attaching more importance to virtually all evaluative criteria and exhibiting different relative importance levels for criteria across class and income levels.